Seton Hall fell to the Providence Friars, 69-67, at the Prudential Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The Pirates could not snap their five-game losing streak, a tall order given the absence of Chaunce Jenkins, their second-leading scorer. The Hall’s previous meeting with Providence also ended in defeat, 91-85.
In Tuesday’s game, junior forward Prince Aligbe led the team in points and rebounds, with 19 and four, respectively. Guards Garwey Dual and Dylan Addae-Wusu also combined for 26 points, scoring 13 each. Junior guard and local talent Jayden Pierre was the standout performer for Providence, scoring 16 points and recording four rebounds and three assists.
Early in the first quarter, the Friars had a player at the line with freshman forward Oswin Erhunmwunse shooting two free throws. Addae-Wusu matched Providence with a jump shot assisted by freshman center Godswill Erheriene.
At 6-foot-10, Erhunmwunse protected the rim for the Friars, swatting two Pirates’ layups early on in the game. Dual tied up the game with a corner three off the dish from Aligbe. Aligbe continued to make an impact, scoring a layup to put the Pirates in the lead.
South Orange native Jabri Abdur-Rahim reclaimed the Friars’ advantage with a 3-pointer off a pass from fellow senior guard Bensley Joseph. The score would change once again after two at the stripe from Addae-Wusu. Dual then extended the Pirate lead to three off a pull-up jumper.
The Pirates’ defense got physical, with their third team foul of the half, being committed only seven minutes in, putting them four away from the penalty. A layup from sophomore center Christ Essandoko and a three from Pierre put the Friars up, 13-12.
Addae-Wusu retook the lead for the Pirates from the free throw line, sinking two shots.
The Friars got into foul trouble, reaching the bonus with more than nine minutes left in the half. This didn’t stop Providence from taking the lead, with an almost alley-oop dunk from Erhunmwunse and a triple from Pierre putting the Friars up by four with seven minutes remaining.
The Pirates then suffered a scoring drought, missing their next seven consecutive shots. Capitalizing on the Pirates' inability to score, the Friars would shoot perfectly from the field over the next five minutes, taking an eight-point lead in the process. Addae-Wusu cut the lead to six with a contested layup. The Pirates started closing in on the Friars with a 3-pointer from Dual, now within striking distance at 22-25.
Providence hit the double bonus with a minute left in the half. As halftime approached, the Pirates and the Friars traded free throws. A layup from Pierre put the Friars up by four at the half, 30-26.
At the half, Dual was the lead scorer for the Pirates with 10 points on 67% from the field and 50% accuracy from beyond the arc. Pierre led the scoring for Providence with 10 at the half and two threes.
Providence opened the second half with a thunderous alley-oop from Erhunmwunse delivered by Corey Floyd Jr. This began a 13-3 scoring run for the Friars.
A smooth reverse layup from Addae-Wusu disrupted the Friars’ run, but the damage was already done. The Pirates struggled to find their rhythm as their field goal percentage fell below 25%.
Three consecutive baskets from The Hall and great sharpshooting from freshman guard Jahseem Felton breathed some life into the Pirates, ending their scoring drought and cutting the deficit to eight. With a layup from Scotty Middleton, the Pirates continued their hot streak while holding the Friars scoreless for five minutes straight.
Providence ended the drought with two free throws from Joseph, still leading by eight. Aligbe matched the Friars with a rim bruiser for the Pirates. Scotty Middleton lit up the arena with a huge trifecta, putting the lead within arm’s reach.
Fighting back for Providence was Abdur-Rahim with another bucket from downtown. Aligbe drew a foul from the Friars and brought the score to 45-49 following his trip to the line. With a huge and-one layup, Addae-Wusu put the Pirates within one point of the Friars, 48-49.
Responding on the other side of the hardwood was Eli Delaurier with a dunk, but Providence’s success would be short-lived following a tough layup from Aligbe. Aligbe completed the electric comeback for the Pirates with an and-one bucket in the paint. With free throws from Joseph and five points from Abdur-Rahim, Providence would retake the lead and go up by five.
Lightning struck twice with yet another and-one from Aligbe cutting the lead to two. Two charity stripe buckets from Floyd Jr. put the Friars up by four with two minutes remaining in the game. Aligbe completed his third and the team’s fourth-and-one in the half, with The Hall trailing by only one point.
The Friars tried to extend their lead, but the Pirates responded with a huge alley-oop from Dual to Aligbe, putting the Pirates down two with only 23 seconds remaining. Both teams in the bonus, Seton Hall and Providence began a back-and-forth free throw deadlock.
Down by three, a huge call for Seton Hall led to Isaiah Coleman shooting three foul shots with three seconds in the game. Coleman missed the first, sunk the second, and Middleton got called for a violation on the third. Two missed free throws from Essandoko opened the door for a buzzer-beater, but Coleman’s throw was just shy of the net as the buzzer sounded and the Pirates fell, 69-67.
Despite the way the last moments of the game went, Coach Shaheen Holloway attributed the loss to the team’s slow start in the second half—a consistent struggle for this Seton Hall team.
“[Coleman’s last three foul shots] didn’t lose the game for us,” Holloway said. “What lost the game for us was the way we came out in the second half – every game. We gotta play hard from the door. If we play hard from the door, then we won’t be in that hole. But we keep putting ourselves in holes.”
Providence shot 42.9% from the perimeter, including an impressive 50% from beyond in the second half. In contrast, the Pirates struggled from deep, only making 18.2% of their long-range attempts. However, Coach Holloway’s press defense enabled the comeback in the second, with 27 of the Pirates’ 67 points being from turnovers.
Coach Holloway also commented on defensive adjustments made since the last Providence game, and those to be made for the remainder of the season.
“Slow the game down,” Holloway said. “Last time they had 14 threes, or 12 threes. Today was nine. You can’t win games with eight-plus threes, and they hit some big ones down the stretch. You just gotta guard your yard…we’re having trouble with that.”
The Pirates will face the Butler Bulldogs on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at the Prudential Center. The Pirates’ record currently stands at 6-16 overall and 1-19 in the BIG EAST.
Christian Hui is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at christian.hui@student.shu.edu.
